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College Life

E X P L O R E
T H E
D A T A

What was the Class of 2024 up to outside of the classroom? We asked them about their extracurricular activities, from campus jobs to drinking and sexual activity. Their answers capture a glimpse of the habits and behavior that defines today’s Princetonian.

Daily Life
Much of campus social life revolves around meals — 62 percent of graduating seniors were members of an eating club at some point of their undergraduate years. 20.3 percent of students are graduating independent, while 5.3 percent of graduating seniors are on a University meal plan. Eating club and co-op members are the most satisfied with their meal plans, with 79 percent of eating club members and 83.3 percent of co-op members reporting that they are very satisfied with their meal plan. Sixteen percent of students reported having stolen food or other products from the U-Store. While only 61.1 percent of seniors reported living in upperclass housing over the past year, 73.9 percent have lived on campus outside of their Residential College at one point in their Princeton journey.
Mental Health
Money doesn’t determine happiness… but maybe your eating club can. 48.6 percent of TI members strongly agree that they “have been happy at Princeton,” compared to only 15.4 percent of Quad members. Additionally, 76.5 percent of those with a household income under $40K report having received mental health counseling within the University’s Counseling Psychological Services (CPS) system. This percentage decreases with each household income bracket. A desire and need for mental health services extends across disciplines of study, with 53.7 percent of engineering students and 68.2 percent of A.B. students having sought out mental health counseling.

Click here to read an analysis on the mental health of members of the Class of 2024 and their parent class, the Class of 1999.
Sex and Romance
“All’s fair in love and war—” perhaps say the 7.8 percent of students who may have cheated on a significant other. Though, some students didn’t get the chance — 29.4 percent of respondents reported never having had a significant other at Princeton. Whether it’s love or nothing serious, 75.9 percent of respondents reported having had sex, including over 90 percent from Cloister Inn and Ivy Club.
Night Life
Be it locked out of their rooms after a shower or assisting a friend who had too much to drink, 55.8 percent of graduating seniors have called PSAFE for assistance. Attitudes towards PSAFE are mixed Twenty percent of Cloister respondents feel strongly unfavorable towards PSAFE, the highest of any Club. One quarter of Cannon respondents feel strongly favorable towards Princeton's public safety arm. 18.4 percent of seniors were members of Greek life at Princeton, yet only 6.2 percent of respondents remained a member of their fraternity or sorority.
Drugs and Alcohol
For the Class of 2024, only a select few have been brought to McCosh Health Center for alcohol overconsumption, but taking them has been a group effort, as only 11.4 percent of respondents reported being “McCosh’d,” but over a quarter participated in “McCoshing” others. Just over half of the senior class have used marijuana before, and just under half consume alcohol at least once a week — two-thirds among legacy students. Other substances are relatively unpopular with 80 percent never consuming vapes and 73.8 percent avoided tobacco products.
Activities
From working at the Firestone help desk to scanning PUIDs at Dillon Gym, 86 percent of respondents from the Class of 2024 reported working a job during their Princeton experience — 79.1 percent of the Class worked a University job. 35 percent of respondents participated in community service activities. Despite a declining athletics budget and difficulties reserving field space during their time on campus, around 32 percent of respondents recorded taking part in non-varsity athletics, almost 5 percent more than Class of 2023 respondents.